


Two Weeks and a Day

by alrambles



Series: On Stamina [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, I edited this., Instead of sleeping, Yuuri Katsuki's stamina, because Minako realized Yuuri was special first, child Yuuri Katsuki, mentions of Yuuko and Takeshi, more specifically his stamina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 15:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10833864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alrambles/pseuds/alrambles
Summary: It only took Minako Okukawa two weeks and a day to figure out that Yuuri Katsuki had something special: his stamina.





	Two Weeks and a Day

To Minako Okukawa, stamina, true stamina, was not about skill, ability, or even an athlete’s will or work ethic, but rather their body’s capacity to keep up with what their mind demanded. She had never had that kind of stamina. She could dance and dance and mentally, she never got tired, but her body demanded rest far too soon for her to be satisfied. She strove to break that barrier through every advancement in her career, but even winning the Benois de la Danse didn’t take away the fact that she was panting and heaving while some of her competitors barely looked like they had broken a sweat during their performance. The only thing that made up for it was the fact that she was more skilled, but eventually, even that couldn’t save her. Many years after her (bitter) retirement, she would have a student who naturally possessed the stamina she so craved. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more, the fact that she could harbor no resentment towards him for his talent, or the fact that its manifestation stirred her passion for dance and competition in way that she hadn’t felt in years. All she was sure of was that he was special, and that she had to be his teacher.

When Yuuri Katsuki became her student, Minako wasn’t expecting much. She had only accepted him because of his parents – and the drinking debt she owed them. And the shy seven-year-old boy that she had seen at Yu-topia, slightly overweight and possessing low self-confidence, did not strike her as a dancer. Despite this, she resolved to teach him as best she could, as a favor to his parents, even if she doubted he would be with her for more than a month.

(That month turned into six, turned into nine, and then a full year, and then years, plural. But it only took Minako Okukawa two weeks and a day to figure out that Yuuri Katsuki had something special: his stamina. It was enviable and incredible, even at such a young age. His body just seemed to keep up with whatever was demanded of it, and then when Yuuri asked for more, it responded. This kid, she knew, with unwavering certainty, could become great.)

Yuuri's lessons were on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, right after school, from three to four o’clock. In two weeks, he had never been late, never forgot his gear, and showed steady improvement. The first week was all about the basics, all of the positions ballet required, along with simple turns and dips, and while he had memorized them quickly (by the Monday of week two), nothing seemed amiss. Thus, she decided to move on, and set fifteen minutes aside each lesson to review. Being young, and a boy, she had decided to next maximize his flexibility as quickly as she could, starting at week two. Each lesson was heavy with stretches and his splits spread farther each time she asked him to extend his legs. The second Friday of his lessons, she had assigned Yuuri some more challenging stretches, to be completed if he wasn’t too sore, along with simple warm up stretches so his muscles wouldn’t tense, and said that, with practice, he would be able to do full splits by the end of the month (whether or not he would be her student by then had been up in the air at the time).

Now, it should be said that most little boys figured out the stigma that came with admitting they took ballet very quickly. Whatever resolve they may have had to become a fully-fledged dancer disappeared as soon as the teasing began. This was why Minako expected the ever-shy Yuuri to quit by the end of the month, and, to be fair, she was half right. Yuuri wasn’t exempt from teasing by any means. But his reaction was far from stereotypical.

That Friday night, she entered the bar area of Yu-topia, sat down, and caught a glimpse of her student with his two friends. She didn’t know their names, but she’d seen them after Yuuri’s practices were over. She could tell, even from the bar, that the heavy-set boy was teasing Yuuri about something. The mocking arm movements and ungraceful turns made it pretty clear that the subject of ridicule was Yuuri’s dancing. The girl hit him and yelled at him to stop, while Yuuri just looked down at the floor, shoulders shaking. Minako had sighed and turned away, thinking she’d probably lost another student and wondering how she was going to pay her drinking debt after Yuuri quit.

She was pleasantly surprised to find him in her studio the following Monday, right on time for his next lesson. He didn’t give any indication that he’d given up, and she didn’t mention anything about what she had seen. She asked him to stretch, and it was only when she asked him to attempt to do the splits that she realized that she might have underestimated Yuuri Katsuki, as he sank directly to the ground with no resistance. Startled, she asked him how much he had practiced his stretches over the weekend.

_“I-i practiced the advances set once Friday night, then again Saturday morning, and then before ice-skating on Saturday I did my warm up stretches, and again after ice-skating on Saturday, and I know you didn’t say I could, but I practiced my dancing after I stretched on Saturday night, and then I repeated it all Sunday. B-but I still helped out around the inn and with chores, and did my homework (because my mom said I couldn’t dance until I did), I promise Minako-sensei!”_

(Even now, years later, his answer, delivered with a hopeful smile and wide, earnest eyes, still makes her shake her head and roll her eyes with a smile. How like Yuuri to deliver that kind of speech like he might have been doing something wrong, as if prepared for her to critique everything he had done. As if he hadn’t just completed a weekend full of practice that her older students would rebel against if she had even suggested it. But that was Yuuri, and over the years that quiet, consistent, understatedly excelling nature had never left him.)

It was more practice completed in a weekend than any student she had ever had. He should have been too sore for it, considering how far he had started from the ground in his splits, combined with the taxing activity of skating. Instead, he had powered through and practiced eight times in one weekend. That was the type of raw stamina that most coaches dreamed about. The possibilities were endless, and Yuuri only showed more and more stamina as he advanced. And when he began ice skating in earnest, he kept up with his practicing and improvement in ballet (even doing extra for both of his passions – she had had to make him stop more than once). It was amazing, unlike anything she’d ever seen, mostly because he could maintain that kind of physical taxation and soar instead of cash and burn like so many she had witnessed. For years to come she would laugh at reporters who assumed that Yuuri wasn’t anything special. And it was only a matter of time before the world saw what she did. Yuuri’s stamina was special. And it only took her two weeks and a day to see it.

(Later, when she asks Yuuri why he practiced instead of quitting after getting teased, he says that the boy – Takeshi Nishigori – teased him about everything. But when he (and apparently others, according to Yuuri) teased him about dancing, he could only say that Yuuri was girly for it, not that he was bad at it. This distinction allowed for the teasing to roll off of Yuuri’s back. He had been called worse than girly, and it wasn’t like Takeshi could do a pirouette (as it turned out, Yuuri’s shaking shoulders weren’t tears, but suppressed laughs at this fact). It was a small glimpse into the competitive side of Yuuri that was so often buried beneath his self-consciousness. But its presence fueled him to greater heights, above Takeshi’s teasing (eventually, above Yuri Plisetskty, too,and then higher), and Minako couldn’t wait to see it fully emerge.

But Minako yells at Takeshi anyways. Yuuri’s stamina was outmatched by only one thing: his low self-esteem, and she would not encourage it, even by proxy.)

**Author's Note:**

> Read if you want the explanation for Minako, which I may write soon:  
> Ok, so my biggest Minako headcanon is that she only gives Yuuri lessons because of a drinking debt she owes to his parents. Yes, yes, I know she was a famous dancer, but my other headcanon for her is that she had to give up pro dancing after a devastating injury, which lands her back in Hasetsu teaching beginners. Most of her money was spent on medical bills and surgery, then her studio in Hasetsu, and then on drinking. Between rent and booze, she’s barely afloat until the Katsuki’s cut her some slack by asking her to teach their kid. Lo and behold, this kid could go pro and this fact, combined with Yuuri himself, pulls Minako out of her slump and back into functioning. She still likes to drink though, just less damagingly. Phew. Also, to me, Yuuri’s self-doubt for the most part comes from both mental problems and bullying, but it hasn’t completely manifested at age 7, and with Minako’s encouragement, plus the fact that he doesn’t have competition to compare himself to, he’s relatively confident in his dancing. He and Minako are fine keeping it that way, though he has won (read: dominated) a few competitions. And this may not seem terribly taxing, but for a seven year old to go through challenging stretches four times a day because he ~felt like it~, that shows some stamina, enough to catch Minako’s attention for development.  
> Sorry, that was long. Thank you for reading the story!! And if you read my rambling headcanon, extra thank you!


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